1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of gaming, especially to electronic gaming in processor based apparatus, and in particular to video gaming apparatus in which outcomes are based on random generation of symbols into fields and the attainment of predetermined orders or sets or collections of symbols to identify winning events.
2. Background of the Art
Electronic casino games, whether video poker or slot games, have grown exponentially in numbers in the last twenty years, as have the revenues generated by such machine games. It is estimated that more than three fourths of any casino's revenue is now provided by machine games as opposed to table games.
The casino patron usually gravitates to either table games or machine games due to the very nature of each genre. The table player can be drawn by the camaraderie of group interaction and the typically lower house advantage games with less dramatic win/loss swings. Odds of approximately 1-to-1(within 1-6%) are common in casino table games, and can provide the player with more frequent wins and a slower depreciation of assets. By way of contrast, the machine player is more likely to enjoy solitary play. The solitary player also is motivated to play games that may have larger house advantages but which can provide huge payouts, albeit with a higher degree of volatility. This higher volatility is due to the fact that to provide large or jackpot wins, the game would have many more results which are either a complete loss, a push or a win of less than the total wager. The machine player can become disheartened with a streak of these losing results. Additionally, in games that feature a multiple step game play, the initial spin or deal may appear to be both a losing event and a poor start, which can compound the player's frustration and lead to less time on the machine. There is often the perception that the machine game is “rigged” to provide an inordinate amount of these bad starts, especially after a player has had some initial winning results. Prior art has sought to address these issues, but there is still a need for new inventive game play that gives the player more positive expectations and a feeling that even poor starts can be turned into a win.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,855,054 (White) describes methods of playing games of chance and gaming devices and systems comprising a display of a plurality of symbols where at least one symbol may be interchanged (two way exchange) with another symbol of the plurality of symbols. After a combination of symbols initially is randomly generated and the initial results are displayed to a player, the player may have the opportunity to interchange at least one displayed symbol with another symbol in order to configure a more advantageous symbol arrangement.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,641,477 and 5,704,835 (Dietz, II) describe an electronic slot machine and method of use which allows a player to completely replace up to all of the initial symbols displayed after the first draw in order to create, improve or even lose a winning combination. If a suitable winning combination is not formed with the initial symbols, the player is given opportunities to select up to all of the symbol display boxes for replacement.
US Patent Publication No. 20060183532 (Jackson) discloses a display on which symbols may be provided for use in a slot-type wagering game. Symbols are displayed on sectioned geometrical shapes such as ovals, squares, circles, polygons, etc. Specific symbol combinations, particularly comprised of one symbol appearing on one section of each sectioned geometric shape or all symbols appearing on all sections of one sectioned geometric shape, may constitute a winning combination according to a predetermined pay table. Preferably the invention incorporates three 3-section circular reels, providing 30 different pay lines and an additional pay line incorporating all nine sections of the reels.
Disclosed herein is a family of pure-luck slot machines based on mechanized playout of simple one and two player games, using a method of calculating pay tables for two or more spinner devices based on the game. The machines are simple enough to be implemented with physical hardware is random number generators for players who are suspicious of a computer controlling the random element. Computers would still be used to scan the result of the physical events, calculate payout, and operate the payment mechanisms, whether coin, magnetic, printed, wireless, or other future payment methods. The same games could be implemented in existing slot machine platforms, pure software for computers and video game consoles, mobile gaming platforms, pocket computers, cellular phones capable of running game programs, and so forth.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,470,182 (Martinek et al.); 6,159,096 (Yoseloff); and 6,117,009 (Yoseloff) disclose novel mapping systems in which all possible final outcomes (e.g., all of the displays available on a three-reel slot) are defined as templates, and each template is assigned a specific probability. A random number generator then selects an individual template to be displayed based on the probability of the specific template.
The present technology advances gaming systems and games as described herein. All references cited in this disclosure are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety to provide background on technical enablement for apparatus, components and methods.